After complaints by world No. 1 Roger Federer and other top players regarding back-to-back weeks of Masters Series events on the ATP calendar, there was a peculiar vote by player representatives to uphold the event’s calendar positions on the planned 2009 schedule. ADHEREL At the ATP Player Council meeting this week during the French Open, […]

If the forecasters are right and it keeps raining in Paris, the winner at the end of the French Open might night be not be best clay courters but rather the fittest. The more it rains the more likely players will be playing back-to-back five setters, meaning unfit guys will be falling by the wayside rather quickly.

The draws are out, the players are in Paris. It’s time for the previews. Top Quarter Justine Henin and Rafael Nadal are sharing the same mission at this year’s French Open. Both of them want to win the biggest clay court prize for a third consecutive year. Henin is looking for a fourth career title […]

Unseeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai recorded her second win over a former No. 1-ranked player Friday at the Istanbul Cup, beating top-seeded Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the final against Russian Elena Dementieva. Rezai earlier in the week beat Venus Williams in the second round. “I am very happy about defeating Sharapova,” Rezai told […]

Roland Garros Previews – Les Hommes The draws are out, the players are in Paris. It’s time for the previews. Top Quarter Roger Federer reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2005, when the mighty Swiss fell to Rafael Nadal. In 2006, he was beaten by the Spaniard in the final. Can Federer do one […]

In the minds of many Roger Federer will ascend to “Greatest Player Ever” status once he wins the only Slam that has eluded him thus far, and 2007 looks to be his best shot yet for a Roland Garros triumph. The Swiss is coming off a Hamburg final where he finally bested world No. 2 […]

With all that happened in the Hamburg final on Sunday, one man’s performance has been stuck under the radar a little. Lleyton Hewitt put up a respectable and surprising run to the semi-finals of the German Masters Series event, straight-setting clay court specialists Juan Ignacio Chela, Agustin Calleri and Nicolas Almagro. The former No.1 also […]

Before I get to the topic we’re all eager to discuss, let me just start by quickly introducing myself to you as Tennis-X.com’s new blog writer. Let’s start with my name, Abe Kuijl. Right now you’re probably thinking, how the bleep do you pronounce that last name? Well, I’m Dutch and here in The Netherlands, […]

I certainly didn’t think we would get another Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal battle before the French Open. While I pegged Federer to reach the final, I really believed Nadal would either withdraw or get knocked out en route to the title match.

It was business as usual for Rafael Nadal Sunday in Italy, crushing his 77th straight opponent on the red clay defeating Fernando Gonzalez for his third consecutive Rome Masters title.

The warning signs have been there for the last few months and the way Roger Federer lost to Filippo Volandri in Rome yesterday confirms the Swiss is in his first slump as a No. 1.

So Pete Sampras can win on clay after all! Okay, it was a little Boston senior event and he beat a bunch of guys – John McEnroe, Todd Martin, Tim Mayotte, Petr Korda – who don’t exactly strike fear into people on the dirt. But give the guy some credit, a year after looking real […]

Television drives professional sports, so you have to wonder, how high could tennis’ popularity rise if the powers that be could get tennis’ biggest events on TV? And we’re not talking about Wimbledon here. This week Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal played an exhibition on a court that was half clay, half grass. Rafa won. […]

Maybe it’s me but it’s starting to feel like no one is ever going to beat Rafael Nadal on clay, ever again. Igor Andreev, you are soon to become a permanent answer to the trivia question of the last player to do it.